2 N.Y.Times articles

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP64B00346R000400090005-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 25, 2003
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: September 28, 1961
• Content Type: NSPR

THE NEW YORK TIMES J6$ ReB&Ib0~8-EPTEMBER 1961
Approved For Release 2003/10/10: CIA-RDP64B003 6 4000 5 8
Adept New C.I.A. Chief
John Alex McCone
Special to The New York Times.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27-
In the final days of
his Administration, President
Dwight D. Eisenhower once
told his chairman of the
Atomic Energy Commission:
"John, you shouldn't spend so
much money fixing up this
house. You know, we only
have a few months left
around here." John
Man Alex McCone spent
in the the money and
kept the elegantly
News furnished;: Palla-
dian - style home,
even after he retired from the
commission with the end of
the Eisenhower Administra-
tion. It was one of the many
fortuitous investments made
by the 59-year-old California
business man, because he now
has a place to live as he re-
turns to the capital to become
the director of the Central In-
telligence Agency.
He returned with some
teristic of a man who gained Associated Press
a reputation while in Wash- Never leaves any question
ington as a decisive, strong- as to who is in charge.
willed administrator. An ar-
dent, active Republican, who
last fall supported Vice Presi-
dent Richard M. Nixon for the
Presidency, he had some mis-
givings about whether he
could prove useful in a Demo-
cratic Administration.
His retenttion of the home,,
however, was probably a sub-
conscious admission that he
would ultimately return to
Government service. Aside
from delighting in the politi-
cal battle, he is a man sorely
troubled over the East-West
struggle and driven by a deep-
'Ended Rift in A. E. C.
It was his political adept-
ness that paved the way fol
his return to Washington, de-
spite his party label. As
chairman of the Atomic
Energy Commission from
mid-1958 until Jan. 20, 1961,
Mr. McCone skillfully healed
the deep political wounds that
had developed between the
commission and Democrats of
the Joint Congressional Com-
mittee on Atomic Energy.
By the time he voluntarily
resigned from the commission,
Mr. McCone was on close,
friendly terms with such
Democrats on the committee
as Senator Clinton P. Ander-
son of New Mexico. These
Democrats were instrumental
in promoting him at the
White House for the C. I. A.
post.
With his silvery-white
hair and rimless glasses, Mr.
McCone has a deceptively
professional appearance. His
round Scottish face changes
rapidly from a solemn mien
to a broad smile as he talks
in a low, always deliberate
manner. Among ;associates,
he is normally restrained, and
gentle in manner, but occas-
ionally his temper flares for
a calculated purpose.
As an administrator, Mr.
McCone is a driving, energet-
ic precisionist who never
Jgaues any question as to who
is in charge. In fact, one of
the complaints among his fel-
low atomic energy commis-
sioners was that at times he
was too dominating.
Friend of Eisenhower
Mr. McCone first saw pub-
lic service in the Truman
Administration. In 1947-48 he
served on the President's Air
Policy Committee, a job that
led to his meeting and becom-
ing a close personal friend
of Dwight D. Eisenhower. It
also led to his appointment
as Under Secretary of the
Air Force in. 1950-51, with
the principal responsibility for
increasing the production of
military planes for the Ko-
rean War.
The son of a family that
started an iron foundry in
Nevada in 1860, he went into
the steel and construction
business after graduating
from the University of Cali-
fornia in 1922 with an en-
gineering degree.
By the time he was 32, he
was executive vice president
of the Consolidated Steel Cor-
poration in Los Angeles. He
struck out on his own in 1937
by helping to organize the en-
gineering concern of Bechtel-
McCone-Parsons.
An engineering production
man at heart, Mr. McCone
headed the California Ship-
building Corporation during
World War II. Under his
fifteen-hour-a-day direction,
the company exceeded its
production goals by turtling
out ?467 ships worth $1,000,-
000,000. After the war he be-
came the owner of Joshua
Hendy Corporation, which
operated a fleet of some fifty
tankers and cargo ships.
He was also active in local
symphony and opera organ-
izations and served as a trus-
tee of several universities.
Mr. McCone was married in
1938 to the former Rosemary
Cooper of Idaho. They have
no children.
Approved For Release 2003/10/10 : CIA-RDP64B00346R000400090005-8
 THE NEW YORK TIMES
Approved For Release 2003/10/10 : CIA-RDP64B 346R000400090005-8
Thursday - 28 September 1961
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